This break with its past saw the start of a predatory relationship with nature and attempts to control the environment, and women along with it: exclusion from the world of work (whereas women worked in the Middle Ages), confinement to domestic and reproductive duties, destruction of their age-old powers and knowledge, above all with regard to medicines and therefore connected with plants, flowers and medicinal herbs. Witches are resistance fighters, perpetuating a benevolent relationship with nature and making good use of the power of flowers. Borne by the ethics of a new relationship with nature and a wave of feminist energy, witches make their appearance in the "Pouvoir des Sorcières" garden, as mediators between humankind and nature. At Chaumont-sur-Loire, they create a medicinal ornamental garden harbouring an assortment of incredible curative flowers. Sexism has been banished from this natural pharmacopeia and visitors reconnect with nature in contemplation and encounter. A patchwork of flowers with hues ranging from red to purple to black symbolises women’s blood and their rediscovered powers.

Designers

Sung Hye Park is a Korean landscaper and urban planner with 15 years’ international experience to her credit. She has designed and managed major urban projects in South Korea, Vietnam, China and the United States for private and public clients alike. Her landscaping work is the result of a finely-honed contextual vision incorporating a wide range of cultural influences that she merges with the localities concerned. She studied at the University of Korea’s School of Horticultural Sciences and at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London.

Byung-Eun Min de Gaulejac is Franco-Korean. She met Sung Hye Park in 1993, at the University of Korea’s School of Horticultural Sciences. She then left for Germany, the United Kingdom and France, where she studied social sciences. She worked as an interpreter for NGOs and in the financial sector, until “landscape” brought the two friends back together again at Chaumont-sur-Loire.

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The Domain of Chaumont-sur-Loire

Aquired by the Centre-Val de Loire Region in 2007, The Domain of Chaumont-sur-Loire has become an unmissable site within the spheres of art and gardens. The triple identity of the Domaine : Heritage, art and gardens make for a unique visit within the circuit of the Loire Valley castles